Title: The Last of the Mohicans

Author: James Fenimore Cooper

Genre: Classics

Publisher: Wordsworth Editions Ltd

Format: Paperback

Pages: 359

Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis:

It is 1757. Across north-eastern America the armies of Britain and France struggle for ascendancy. Their conflict, however, overlays older struggles between nations of native Americans for possession of the same lands and between the native peoples and white colonisers. Through these layers of conflict Cooper threads a thrilling narrative, in which Cora and Alice Munro, daughters of a British commander on the front line of the colonial war, attempt to join their father. Thwarted by Magua, the sinister ‘Indian runner’, they find help in the person of Hawk-eye, the white woodsman, and his companions, the Mohican Chingachgook and Uncas, his son, the last of his tribe.

Cooper’s novel is full of vivid incident- pursuits through wild terrain, skirmishes, treachery and brutality- but reflects also on the interaction between the colonists and the native peoples. Through the character of Hawkeye, Cooper raises lasting questions about the practices of the American frontier and the eclipse of the indigenous cultures

Review:

This is another book that I’ve read this year where I watched the movie first, albeit years ago. This book was so different from the movie, that it felt like I was reading a different story! The characters were in love with different people, and different circumstances occurred almost completely, and some characters survived in the book where the died in the movie! I, naturally, enjoyed the book more than the movie!

The book takes place during the Seven Years War in what is to become Canada, between the French and the English. My favourite quote from the book is “…this story takes place during a war which England and France last waged for possession of a country that neither was destined to retain.” This book was written before Canadian confederation, so this quote gave me chills when I read it! I loved how the author created a main character that was white, but understood the First Nations in a sense, and taught the reader to not underestimate the wisdom of the tribes, or their ability to move swiftly in the wilderness! The author does a great job at describing First Nations culture, although there were times that they were portrayed in a negative light. This, though, was to show the warring factions between the tribes, and to show that even they had prejudices against other tribes.

I give this book 4/5 stars, and recommend if you enjoy reading classics!